[whatwg] Figure Captions

[tjeddo]

Would anyone mind summarizing the design rationale for choosing the
'dt' element as opposed to a 'caption' element when specifying the
caption of a figure?

Looking through the current draft of the HTML5 spec it appears that
the surrounding context of 'dt' element determines how the contents of
'dt' are interpreted (e.g., dl, figure, details).
However, from a readability, and I guess aesthetic perspective, a
<caption> tag seems like the correct fit here.  A <caption> tag is
more explicit in terms of the intended semantics associated with a
figure; whereas, <dt> (defined term?) is more abstract (IMO).

Thank you.
Tim